If you are enticed by the warm glow of hundreds of light fixtures and old-world stained glass that fills Eric Cohen's Vancouver, Canada antiques shop, you'll have to press a doorbell to gain entry.
Someone at the shop's front desk will buzz you in but remember that, although the big space on Main Street resembles a museum, it isn't. It is the city's most upmarket store for antique light fixtures and other grand mansion and hotel pieces, which Cohen sources from all over the world.
For 31 years, Cohen, who started his business in Ottawa, has bought and sold antiques. He even rents them to movie crews to decorate the sets of the period films that are often being shot in Vancouver (the city is known as Hollywood North). Over the years, many celebrities have rung his doorbell and most have become regular clients.
Kevin Costner, Vanessa Williams, Debbie Reynolds, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Natalie Cole and Courteney Cox have been patrons, as well as wealthy jet-setting types and their interior designers.
They are fans because Cohen understands antiques and doesn't sell anything that isn't exhaustively restored with hundreds of man-hours using custom-made pieces, such as the crystal that comes from Czechoslovakia.
His expert in-house restorer, Robert McNutt, has been with him for 30 years. You can find McNutt in the back room knee-high in light fixtures in various stages of restoration, his fingers stained black from polishing.
According to Cohen, the economic downturn makes it a particularly fine time to be in the market for exquisite antiques; he recently purchased about 20 gramophones from a collection, circa 1920.
"We're getting collections in silver and art, and porcelain and paintings," he says, seated in his office, surrounded by heavy wood furniture, vintage posters and gilded antiques and art. "People are just selling out."
Cohen says he has an instinct for finding hidden treasures, such as the US$189,000 (Dh693,727) oil painting hanging in his office he found at a US flea market. He recalls the time he found a Tiffany light fixture worth $47,000.
He specialises in light fixtures, such as the 12-arm crystal chandelier made by F & C Osler, Britain's prestigious chandelier maker, priced at $29,650. For something altogether more extravagant, there is the rare 19th-century, 1.5 metre-high, five-tiered chandelier smothered with emerald green Baccarat drop crystals. Price tag: $58,519.
And there is a glorious selection of vintage stained glass pieces, too, almost all of them intended for mansions. In the centre of the store an imposing arched stained glass window, circa 1880, stands nearly three metres high. The light from outside illuminates the window's two cherubs, both glancing innocently over their shoulders.
And then there's that little number that Cohen found neglected in a barn out in the country. One Friday afternoon he got a call that a woman had a hotel chandelier she wanted to unload. He drove for two hours to her farm and inside the barn he discovered a massive, though long neglected, Louis XV-style brass chandelier packed with hundreds of cut crystals, circa 1906, three metres high, from Victoria, BC. McNutt spent untold hours bringing it back to life. It now hangs in the shop, a showpiece among many.
"It's the finds like that that make this business worthwhile," says Cohen. "And I love this business."
Vancouver Architectural Antiques +1 604 872 3131, @email:www.vaaltd.ca
SERIES INFO
Cricket World Cup League Two
Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Table
The top three sides advance to the 2022 World Cup Qualifier.
The bottom four sides are relegated to the 2022 World Cup playoff
1 United States 8 6 2 0 0 12 0.412
2 Scotland 8 4 3 0 1 9 0.139
3 Namibia 7 4 3 0 0 8 0.008
4 Oman 6 4 2 0 0 8 -0.139
5 UAE 7 3 3 0 1 7 -0.004
6 Nepal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 PNG 8 0 8 0 0 0 -0.458
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
